Chef Gaynol

Top Ten Tips for Food Truck Customers

Unless you've been living under house arrest it's been hard to miss the latest craze in the food world. You'd better buckle up because food trucks are taking the country by storm and serving up some creative and delicious food.

Pictured above,  Skillet Street Food's "french dip" panini style roasted beef, gruyere, horseradish crema, caramelized onions, roasted beef jus.

It used to be that the best you could expect from a food truck was a bag of funyuns and a warm diet coke.  Today, food trucks are serving up everything from korean short rib tacos to wagyu beef burgers with bacon jam.

Here are my top ten tips for getting the most out of your food truck experience.

Why I love Tom Douglas

If you're ever in Seattle you really owe it to yourself to spend at least one evening in a Tom Douglas restaurant.  Along with my partner in cholesterol, we've been eating at his joints since we rolled into town back in the early 90's.

Douglas has been able to create places that exude warmth, celebrate food and give diners a great meal. My current favorite is the Palace Kitchen.  This is where I go when I really need good food, a stiff drink and someone to take care of me.  The guys and gals in the kitchen are some of the best in the business.  Outfitted in their mechanic overalls, they remind me of a Daytona 500 pit crew as they feed the wood  grill and turn out amazing food for the hungry hordes. 

 

 

 

 

 

Our meal usually starts off with the outstanding bread from the Dahlia Bakery. Rustic and aromatic, the bread has a chewy tangy crust and a soft airy inside that is perfect for dipping in olive oil. Rumor has it that the olive oil is Arbequena by Provista and I really like how nuanced it is.  You certainly can taste the olives but it has a fruitiness to it that really complements the balsamic vinegar.  You can pick up a bottle of this olive oil at DeLaurenti's in the Pike Place Market.

 

 

Dine Around Seattle

Ladies and gentleman start your enzymes!  It's time once again for Dine Around Seattle!  If you missed DAS in the past you're in for a real treat.  Thirty of Seattle's finest restaurants offer a three course meal for thirty dollars.  That's right folks, a mere thirty dollars will get you an appetizer, entree and dessert. 

Bring in Da Noise

“Unquiet meals make ill digestions.” – William Shakespeare, The Comedy of Errors

Our server has a vein bulging out of her neck and is once again trying to convey the daily specials.  It may include one of the following; blue cheese, green peas, something Chinese, or maybe Taiwanese? 

One of our dear friends is telling what I can only assume is an amusing little antidote involving his bad knees, kidney disease, going to Disney, wife leaving him for someone named Sydney?

It could be anything but with the “background music” turned up to a level that rivals a jet accelerating for takeoff, I’ll never know.

Please, if you’re the operator of a restaurant, I’m begging you, turn down the music to a reasonable level.  I shouldn't  need a bottle of Excedrin and a pair of Bose noise canceling head phones to enjoy my cheesy grits.

The Culinary Institute of American in their book Remarkable Service intones, “Music should be chosen to enhance the dining experience. The volume should be set to a level just loud enough to prevent one table from hearing every word spoken at the next table.”

So by all means, complement your cuisine with a soundtrack.  If you’re pushing pulled pork and potato salad serenade me with Patsy Cline. Serving Mexican? By all means, Mariachi me. Indian?  Hit me with all the sitar music you can program. Just do it at a volume that doesn’t make me want to bolt from my seat clutching my bleeding ears.

I understand restaurants are searching for that all elusive vibe, but it is a mistake to believe blaring music will fill an empty dining room. Vibe comes from happy, contented customers, enthusiastically discussing how great the moo goo gai pan is.  It comes from friends sharing reminiscences and ordering yet another round of macho nachos and margaritas.  Mediocre main courses can’t be concealed with Modest Mouse, no matter how loud you turn up “Float On.”

To that end I’m encouraging restaurants to adopt four guidelines for background music;

1) Do program the play list to cover the average amount of time diners spend at the table.  I don’t want to hear “Thank God and Greyhound She’s Gone” repeated six times while I down my biscuits and gravy. (Actually, I don’t want to hear that particular tune ever again.)
2) Adjust the volume level for the time of day and customer load. Obviously, you’re going to need to increase the volume during your lunch or dinner rush. Just don’t forget to adjust it back down when the majority of patrons have left
3) Make sure your audio system can be heard at the same level throughout the restaurant. The unfortunate table nearest the speaker shouldn’t suffer hearing loss while the table in the back has to strain to hear the soundtrack.
4) Respond quickly and courteously if you’re asked to turn down the volume.

I thank you, I think we’ve made everyone happy by agreeing to the above guidelines.  Although my audiologist was hoping to buy a boat this year, so he’s actually pretty pissed, but you can’t please everyone.